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Year in Review 2015! Welcome to Startup Life Hacks 2015, year in review! First of all I want to thank each and every one of you for having me in your ears while your driving, cooking, doing the dishes, or whatever you are doing to absorb the content. For subscribing, for sending in the great reviews. I’m doing this for YOU. I apologize for the delayed episode, but there were a lot of events this holiday season that left me out of my studio, aka my room, which involved going to LA to pick up my parents that flew in from Japan, non-stop family gatherings, and also recovering from a stomach bug that’s been going around lately in San Diego. Oh and also falling 13,000 feet in the sky, but more on that later. WHY? This is a special episode not only because it will be my last episode of this calendar year, but this will also be my first episode reflecting on this year’s accomplishments, failures, and lessons learned. Something that I feel like everyone should do even if you don’t have a business. It’s good to reflect and look back at what you’ve accomplished to see where you’ve come from and how far you’ve come since then. Now is the best time ever as we’re entering the New Year, 2016. I’ve seen some podcasters and bloggers do this and I think this was usually their best episode/blog to listen to. Mainly because it really makes it humbling to know that they are going through the same challenges I am facing as I’m running my business and I can learn a lot from their trials and errors, as well as tips on what I can do in the future to further my business. And that’s what I wanted to provide to you, and I hope you walk out of here with a few takeaways before this episode is over. WHAT YOU WILL LEARN In this episode you will know a little bit more about me, in case you haven’t listened to my awful first episode. How I started with podcasting earlier this February to this current episode and everything in between. And a little bonus! What’s in store for Startup Life Hacks for 2016! BACKGROUND So a quick background about me. I am a Master’s of Engineering student in Electrical Engineering at San Diego State University. Go AZTECS!   I was born in the Philippines, but raised here in San Diego, part of the reason why I’ve lost my accent and adopted the California tongue. I grew up very traditional. I was taught the traditional values of going to school and getting good grades to get a safe and secure job with benefits. Stay with the company for 20 years to get a pension to live a “comfortable” life. Sound familiar? I’m not saying that this is a bad route to take, because most people take this route. I’m just saying that I found out later that this was not the route for me. And seeing as though you are listening to this podcast, we are on the same boat. SCHOOL I’ve always felt that I would fuse technology and business together and make a living out of it. I was always good at math at a young age (In fact I was usually first to complete the multiplication table in elementary school whenever we had a contest). And even though I was a shy kid while growing up, I had a good sense of putting things where they need to be visually. Not many people know this, but I was originally a Marketing Major my Freshman year of college, hoping to be the next real estate Mogul. It wasn’t until I took a one year leave of absence after the first year and returned to college, when I took a pivot and switched to electrical engineering to put my math to good use. TWO COMPANIES Between that change to earlier this year was a crazy one. I tried starting two companies. The first was a shopping cart theft prevention company we called Find Cart. Placed top 3 in a business plan competition with no prior business experience. That didn’t continue on after my partners and me won. The second was a mobile gaming company I called The Don Studios, where I repurpose game apps and send them over to iTunes using the freemium model. Meaning free to download, but extra bonuses you can unlock by purchasing coins or credits. The first app being a Twerking Running Game, inspired by Miley Cyrus’ shocking 2013 VMA performance. Hahah I don’t even think it’s in the app store any more. That failed as well, although there were plenty of lessons learned. PODCASTING Fast forward to earlier this year to my podcasting business. I decided to take some fun classes that interested me. I tried to take a Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship course, aside from taking engineering courses, but the system wouldn’t allow me to add the class to my schedule. But once I talked with the professor, she allowed me to crash and sit through the class everyday. I took notes and participated in every assignment and project. One of the projects was to interview a Startup Founder around the community and discuss about how that person became an entrepreneur and what steps he took to get to where he was at. After everyone presented their findings toward the end of the semester, I saw everyone’s eyes light up with ideas on how they can innovate and start companies of their own. That’s when I had the idea for the podcast. I wanted to have the same effect and inspire others in a larger scale, and I chose podcasting as my medium. I chose podcasting because you can connect with the listener better, obviously through myself and the guest’s voice to the listener’s ear. You can hear the passion through their voice, you can hear how excited they are about their business. That was something that I wanted to capture. NO EXPERIENCE I had no journalism experience prior to this, so I started from the ground up. I didn’t know what equipment to use, how to get guests, I was nervous, I was afraid, but I was excited. Because I get to go out of my comfort zone, and do something that excites me. THE BEGINNING The first step I took was sought out mentors or people that I can learn from. I knew that one of the podcasts I listened to, EntrepreneurOnFire with John Lee Dumas, he had a podcasting course which allowed you to learn how to podcast and go from zero to launch in no time, called Podcaster’s Paradise. And so I invested money into that course to learn how to podcast. And here’s what I like to do. Whenever I think about doing something I make the initial investment right then and there. That way I don’t over think it and psyche myself out. This goes for anything, when I plan on going to conferences, vacations, take courses online. Also, be mindful, during this period I was working full-time as a technician at Qualcomm, and also going to graduate school. So I had some extra cash to spend on self-development. This is also a tip I have for you. Set some money aside every year for self-development and to learn something new. Learn from people who have been where you want to be. Learn from their mistakes You can save so much more money by avoiding those simple mistakes by investing time and money learning every year. TIME TO RECORD I didn’t really start podcasting until early June of this year. I had the whole summer to myself with no distractions from school so it was the perfect time to get things settled before I launch the first day of school. I had gotten acquainted with the equipment watching tutorials online and through the course, set my website, and now time to record my first episode…episode 000 QUITTING…ALMOST I never really listened to myself until this moment. I remember listening to myself thinking… “Do I really sound like this?” And quite frankly, this was one of the moments when I wanted to quit, and I hadn’t even launched yet! I had what people called “The Imposter Syndrome.” Who am I to start this podcast? Who am I to do something outside of what I was taught at school? Where I already invested years and student loans paying for? SOLUTION?  So what did any college student do at that moment? Called up a group of my buddies and went to a bar in Pacific Beach. Not gonna lie, it felt like the right decision at that time. But I knew I was only stalling and I needed to get back to work. I needed to remember why I started this podcast in the first place. So I sucked it up and started recording. It wasn’t perfect, in fact I was embarrassed, still embarrassed by my first episode. There’s a famous quote by Reid Hoffman, the co-founder of LinkedIn “If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late.” Think about that. GUESTS The first run of guests was easy to find. I interviewed my previous boss from a startup I worked for in the past, Braydon Moreno from Robo3D EP 001: CREATING A HARDWARE COMPANY USING 3D PRINTING W/ BRAYDON MORENO My friend and personal trainer Justin Ayres from Ripe EP 002: YOU MEAN, I CAN’T HAVE A GYM THERE? PERSISTENCE W/ JUSTIN AYRES Also my old classmate from undergrad Drew Haines, that started a software company, called Devco. EP 004: FROM BEER PONG SURFBOARD TABLES TO SOFTWARE GURU W/ DREW HAINES All had inspiring stories that I wanted to share with, You. The rest of the guests came from references, attending meetups, going to conferences and events. You can hear how I met these guests in the beginning of each episode. There’s always an opportunity out there, you just have to go out there and get it. A closed mouth never gets fed is also what I live by. LESSONS I’ve learned a great deal from these entrepreneurs, and I can’t thank them enough for taking the time out of their busy schedules to sit and talk with me for an hour. They’ve given me advice on how to plan out my next move in my business, which I will talk about in a bit.   Although podcasting is a very social medium, meaning that I get to go around and meet a lot of awesome people, the majority of my time was spent inside my room editing, learning new tools, creating content. I’d say for every 30 minutes of audio I record, I do about 4 hours of post editing. Now with 30 episodes already on iTunes, you can imagine the work that was put in. And that’s just the editing! HUSTLE  2015 was the year of the hustle. Like what I always say in every episode… Stay Positive, Keep Grinding. It’s what I live by even after this year is over. Aside from business I was also able to experience some new things. During the summer I went on my first cruise where I went on the Mexican Riviera. I ziplined through the forests of Puerte Vallarta Parasailed in the shores of Mazatlan. And just a couple days ago I went skydiving for the second time in San Diego. That was amazing! Jumped off a plane 13,000 ft in the air, reaching speeds of up to 120 mph. All I gotta say is…good thing I wore a jacket. STARTUP LIFE HACKS 2016 Now for the future of Startup Life Hacks for 2016. After hearing all of these startup stories, I am bound to start one of my own, right? I’m proud to announce that I’ve too become a startup founder, for a startup named Trainstar. It was started by a couple of my previous classmates from engineering and they brought me on the team to head the marketing. I don’t want to give too much away, but we will be creating an app for fitness enthusiasts. I love being active and going to the gym. In fact, I’ll be competing in a men’s physique contest in August of 2016. So this aligns perfectly. I want to make sure everyone sees every step of the way in our startup. PIVOT For the podcast, we will be doing a pivot. We will be concentrating more on a few startups so that we really get to know the inner workings on how they are doing things and progressing. One of the startups we’ll be following is Trainstar! During the first episode we’ll be interviewing with the founders and find out how Trainstar got started, then in the later episodes we’ll dive deeper and get into conversations with developers, marketing, financing, and all the things you wouldn’t get to see in an interview style podcast. We’ll be doing this format with a few other startups as well that are yet to be determined. So if you are interested in this opportunity, then shoot me an email at info@startuplifehacks.com   But, in order for all of these changes to take effect, we will be taking a short break from releasing new episodes for the next few weeks. If you want to be the first to know about what were are doing, then head on over to startuplifehacks.com and enter in our VIP list.   So that’s all I have for you in this year in review episode of 2015. I hope you had some takeaways from today. Hope you have a great New Years! Looking forward to having you join us in 2016!   And as always. STAY POSITIVE. AND KEEP GRINDIN   Thank You for Listening! Thanks so much for joining me again this week. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the side of this post. Also, don’t forget to leave an honest review for the Startup Life Hacks Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show, and I read each and every one of them. And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes.

Why are New Year’s Resolutions overrated? Now I know January 1st is when everyone starts making New Years Resolutions, but let’s be real. How many of you have actually stuck to your resolutions? Well, this episode’s guest has insights on how to tackle on 2016! Mike Goncalves is the founder of The Wellness Bucket, which is concentrated on helping you create more health and happiness in your life, so that you may finally start to feel, look, and live your best.   WHAT’S YOUR ADVICE TO SOMEONE STARTING OUT IN FITNESS? One of the problems people struggled with when staying consistent originated from coming out of the gate too fast. That’s one of the big reasons why people fall off the chart after two weeks into their New Year’s Resolution. They go from really not doing anything, to going 60 miles per hour. Here are my suggestions… Don’t come out so aggressive. Have a simple workout plan that you know you can follow. Have an accountability structure, whether it may be a buddy that you work out with, a running group that meets a couple times a week, etc. DESCRIBE THE WELLNESS BUCKET An online community that empowers people through health and wellness to live their best lives, whether that’s in entrepreneurship, careers in business, finance, or relationships. WHAT WAS ONE STRUGGLE YOU HAD DURING YOUR FIRST ONLINE BUSINESS? Coming from a brick and mortar, I didn’t know anything about online. My biggest challenge was how to develop a rapport from people that you’ve never even met. Also, how do you stand out online in a sea full of “professionals.” GREAT SUCCESS We do a 30-day wellness challenge every year. Its 30 days a 30 different wellness challenge, such as eating 3 salads, doing 100 burpees, taking a cold shower, etc. It’s great to see different parts of the world take part in this challenge. A notable one was when the French food company, Sodexo, implemented the 30-day challenge throughout the company for everyone in their business to follow. SUPERPOWER I’d say my superpower is the desire to genuinely help people and make a difference in someone’s life. KRYPTONITE Not being able to say no is a struggle of mine. I want to help everyone. IF YOU CAN HAVE ANY SUPERPOWER… I’d love to go back in time to thank mentors that I’ve had. For example, I love Jim Rohn and would love to go back in time and tell him he’s awesome and thank him for all the work he’s done throughout the years and how much it has affected me. RECOMMENDED RESOURCE OR APP Momentum: Daily motivation for your new tab page Youtube   RECOMMENDED BOOKS The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph STARTUP LIFE HACK One of the things that have made a huge difference in my entrepreneurial efforts is serving others. We all have mentors, do your best to serve them, support them when you can. Help those who are on your level, above you, and even below you WHAT IS YOUR WORD OF THE YEAR? Mine is grind/hustle for 2015. Word of the year for 2016 is TEACH **Comment below in the Comments section what is your word of the year.   FOLLOW www.thewellnessbucket.com mike@thewellnessbucket.com Twitter @WellnessBucket Facebook Giveaway! Enter here 1st Place (3 Winners): Join Rommel Cabal, Derric Haynie, and two of your peers for a Mastermind session where we talk about your life and business goals and help you step up your game. Valued at $150   2nd Place: Your own copy of these books: “The Lean Startup” “Traction” and “The 4 Hour Work Week” If you’re a Startup Life Hacks listener, than you know that practically every entrepreneur has read these books. They are so crucial to getting your business off the ground. Valued at $44!   3rd Place: “4 Hour Work Week” The #1 most recommended book by Startup Life Hacks guests. Valued at $13! Thank You for Listening! Thanks so much for joining me again this week. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the side of this post. Also, don’t forget to leave an honest review for the Startup Life Hacks Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show, and I read each and every one of them. And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes.

Cameron Ripley is the Founder and Director of Community Boost, an award winning digital marketing and web design agency that primarily focuses on the nonprofit and social entrepreneurship space. He’s brought together a caring group of millennials to really tackle on today’s social problems. His organization has worked with many causes, including: Google Ideas, Noah Homes, Miracle for Kids, just to name a few. STRATEGIES USED TO FUND BUSINESS Community Boost was incubated out of another digital marketing agency, named E-Boost Consulting. E-boost Consulting was mainly focused on the startup tech space. We had this program where we would bring in young people and teach them digital marketing and then have them apply that to the nonprofit and social space. We had a big vision for what that could do and how that can be its own company. We’ve bootstrapped the whole thing and never received any outside funding. FOUNDER I think any entrepreneur looking to get started and have that founder discussion can sometimes get very difficult. When I came out of school at 21 years old, I went out and sought a founder, and I found someone who was really smart and could help fund the business, which was a really big pain point for many startups. But I also realized that we were not aligned with certain key areas and that was an issue. At Community Boost, a lot of the partners, including the management team, has really found us, and have given the opportunity to bake themselves into the business. WHAT WAS ONE THING THAT YOU STRUGGLED WITH IN THE EARLY STAGES OF YOUR STARTUP? I think one the things I struggled with the most was not failing fast enough or a fear of failure. Not failing fast on a certain idea. And just, you got to have no fear when validating your market, validating sales. HUGE SUCCESS My biggest achievements are some of the successes we’ve created for other organizations 3 years ago we were working with Mia Roseberry and she has an organization now called Wounded Warrior Homes. At that time she had multiple veterans who were suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSD), and she just wanted to help them out. But seeing where they are today, and supporting them from ideation to an office and full-time staff. And really helping her create her vision and what she wanted to make a stand for in the world. That’s some of the stuff that makes me fulfilled and most proud of. SUPERPOWER I really try and value authentic and deep connections with people and really bring in a sense of compassion. So that’s why my superpower is compassion, and I think that’s why I’m so drawn to the space we work in. That authenticity was how we were able to secure business in the early days. KRYPTONITE Delegation of tasks can sometimes be a struggle of mine. The transition from being self-employed to a business was slowed down because of that weakness. IF YOU CAN HAVE ANY SUPERPOWER… For me it would have to be teleportation. I just want to see as much of the world as I can. If I can teleport to all those cool places, that would be amazing. RECOMMENDED RESOURCE OR APP My best resource is not an app, but a routine I do every morning. Take 10 minutes every morning. The first 3 minutes, concentrate on being present. 3 minutes to bring and really feel your breathe through your nose. And then 3-4 minutes of thinking what are 3 things that I’m grateful for today, and 3 things that you want to get done today to further your business.   RECOMMENDED BOOKS The Talent Code: Greatness Isn’t Born. It’s Grown. Here’s How. STARTUP LIFE HACK The number one hack is to validate your customer, and get payment.   FOLLOW Communityboost.org Linkedin Twitter Facebook Cameron@communityboost.org Giveaway! Enter here 1st Place (3 Winners): Join Rommel Cabal, Derric Haynie, and two of your peers for a Mastermind session where we talk about your life and business goals and help you step up your game. Valued at $150   2nd Place: Your own copy of these books: “The Lean Startup” “Traction” and “The 4 Hour Work Week” If you’re a Startup Life Hacks listener, than you know that practically every entrepreneur has read these books. They are so crucial to getting your business off the ground. Valued at $44!   3rd Place: “4 Hour Work Week” The #1 most recommended book by Startup Life Hacks guests. Valued at $13! Thank You for Listening! Thanks so much for joining me again this week. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the side of this post. Also, don’t forget to leave an honest review for the Startup Life Hacks Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show, and I read each and every one of them. And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes.

Gary Ware is the Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Tower33 Digital, a digital advertising agency that focuses on helping small brands drive results and be seen online. He is a dynamic, qualified, and goal-oriented Online Marketing Professional with over ten years of extensive experience providing key support to professionals, including colleagues and customers, and providing team management. Gary recently gave a talk on how to live an amazing life by using the acronym S.A.V.E.R.S. If there was something that you can do, that would almost be the elixir of life. Where if you did it everyday and took it as a magical pill, and it will give you what you need to thrive. To live your best life. Wouldn’t you want to do that? Studies show that if you commit to something like this during the first part of your day, it’s going to give you the mental energy to get through the day. Here Are The Steps Silence: Meditation or prayer. When we are moving at 120 miles per hour, we hardly get a moment to ourselves. Meditating for about 10 minutes every morning and really focusing on your breathing, allows us to calm and center ourselves. A good app to use for meditation is Headspace. Affirmations: Think about a time when you are really stressed out, and you think to yourself that you can’t do it. You’re actually telling your brain that you can’t do it. And that’s an affirmation. It would be better to tell your brain something more uplifting and is going to help you get the things that you want. You can say something like, “I thrive to be ______ a little bit more every day.” Visualizations: Try to take a moment and think about what you need to get done TODAY, and really visualize yourself achieving those goals. Bonus tip: Break down your goals by what you want to get done that month. Write a letter to yourself as if it was the first day of the next month and you have achieved those goals. Not only say what you have achieved, but say what the feeling was like when you achieved those goals. Exercise: All you need is a few minutes of physical activity to get you going throughout the day. This could be simple as doing jumping jacks or pushups to get the blood flowing. Reading: Read a minimum of 10 pages a day. You’d be surprised how many books you will read. Look at the goals that you want to achieve this year. Now look at the skills you need to acquire those goals. Now find the books and audios that you need to get that knowledge. Scribing: Write 3 things that you are grateful for. This is to train you to see the good things in life. When you start looking for the things that bring you joy in life, you don’t have time to see the negative things. Mentions Bot Joy: A tiny (and sometimes giant) robot army programmed to bring you joy Pencils of Promise: We’re a global community that believes everyone deserves access to quality education. We’re reshaping the landscape of education guided by our 100% PROMISE. RECOMMENDED RESOURCE OR APP Evernote: The work space for your life’s work   RECOMMENDED BOOKS The Miracle Morning: The Not-So-Obvious Secret Guaranteed to Transform Your Life (Before 8AM) The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich (Expanded and Updated) Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration What is one startup life hack you’ve discovered? Fail quickly. Fail often   FOLLOW Twitter @garyware @tower33digital Meetup Group – Recess San Diego Facebook Linkedin Selfie Challenge Take a selfie with 7 people that you think would say no to you. Let’s get out of our comfort zone! Comment below if you want to participate.   Giveaway! Enter here 1st Place (3 Winners): Join Rommel Cabal, Derric Haynie, and two of your peers for a Mastermind session where we talk about your life and business goals and help you step up your game. Valued at $150   2nd Place: Your own copy of these books: “The Lean Startup” “Traction” and “The 4 Hour Work Week” If you’re a Startup Life Hacks listener, than you know that practically every entrepreneur has read these books. They are so crucial to getting your business off the ground. Valued at $44!   3rd Place: “4 Hour Work Week” The #1 most recommended book by Startup Life Hacks guests. Valued at $13! Thank You for Listening! Thanks so much for joining me again this week. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the side of this post. Also, don’t forget to leave an honest review for the Startup Life Hacks Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show, and I read each and every one of them. And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes.

Will Caldwell is a graduate from the University of San Diego/ After majoring in Accountancy, he has grown to publishing many articles in well-known sites such as Entrepreneur.com, Inman News, and Elite Daily. Will grew up in the real estate industry, with both parents working in the field. So it’s no surprise that he himself is also making a dent in the real estate world. He is the Founder and CEO of Dizzle, which is an app specifically designed for real estate professionals and organizations, to help generate more word-of-mouth leads. STRATEGIES USED TO FUND BUSINESS Initially it was teaching kite surfing. I was able to make cash quickly. Then I started a drone business to compliment my software business. I knew that I needed to get in front of realtors, so I took aerial photography of the real estate. It was a way to fund my activities before I was in the position to go out and raise angel capitol to grow the business. DESCRIBE A MOMENT WHEN YOU FELT LIKE GIVING UP I was in a legal dispute with one of my business partners and it didn’t look like things were going to turn out right for me to continue. At that point you just pray a lot and take it day by day. You can only control what you can do that day, and that’s the mentality I’ve taken because it’s so uncertain when you start a business. HUGE SUCCESS As we pivoted from our initial idea of selling apps to realtors, to then turning into an advertising platform for vendors to reach real estate agents or homebuyers during the sale of a house. To see the vendors happy and to see the business model working as we predicted, has been a phenomenal satisfaction to me and it’s the reason why I do this. SUPERPOWER Resilience. I won’t go down easily. KRYPTONITE It’s everything that’s going against me as an early stage founder. Running out of money. Customers don’t renew. Uncertainty, it’s hard to predict. IF YOU CAN HAVE ANY SUPERPOWER… It would be mind control so I can know what everyone else is thinking. RECOMMENDED RESOURCE OR APP Toutapp: Tout lets you see who’s opening your emails   RECOMMENDED BOOKS The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers The Martian WHAT IS YOUR STARTUP LIFE HACK? Learn to network and learn to meet people and build relationships. That’s the key to starting a successful business.   ADVICE TO HACKER NATION Start attending events like the MIT Enterprise forum here in San Diego or any type of forum like that. Before you start a business you need to establish your network because you’re going to need that when you begin.   FOLLOW Twitter @dizzle @will_caldwell Linkedin  

Mike Chan is an entrepreneur, consultant, marketer, and blogger. He is the co-founder of Ribl, a real-time, location based message board app, where you can share and discover the most relevant content about your current vicinity, so you’ll never miss out on what’s happening around you. Not only that, he is also the Founder and Host of his own show, the Go and Grow Podcast. Where he interviews entrepreneurs and industry leaders to learn how they launch and grow products and companies. STRATEGIES USED TO FUND BUSINESS My businesses are often bootstrapped. I’ve either started them working on the side while working a full time job or leaving a full time job and doing some consulting. There are certainly pros and cons to that but the bottom line is…just make it happen. Funding from outside sources is not necessary to create a startup FOUNDERS The first startup that I worked on didn’t last very long. And it was because of founder issues. One of the biggest problems for non-technical entrepreneurs like me who are trying to get into a tech startup is to find technical co-founders. I found 3 technical cofounders really quickly and what happened was that I essentially got married without dating. It failed a couple months down the road. We couldn’t agree on the next steps, we couldn’t agree on the strategy and the vision of the company. And this was the startup I quit my full-time job for. Date before you marry. HUGE SUCCESS I haven’t got to the point, at least in my eyes, when I realized I’ve achieved great success. You have to celebrate the small successes. One of the things that I look at is just seeing the fruits of your labor when you’ve worked hard. SUPERPOWER I think empathy is my greatest strength. Whether in business or life in general, I think I’m pretty good at putting myself in other people’s shoes and seeing things from their view. KRYPTONITE My kryptonite is that I am a Jack of All Trades, but a Master at None. It’s tough for me. I like to know a lot about a lot of things, but it’ll serve me well to focus on one thing and get really strong at that. IF YOU CAN HAVE ANY SUPERPOWER I want to be able to read people’s minds. Empathy is part of this, but I’m definitely not at the point of reading people’s minds. RECOMMENDED RESOURCE OR APP Trello: The free, flexible, and visual way to organize anything with anyone.   RECOMMENDED BOOKS The Business of Happiness: 6 Secrets to Extraordinary Success in Life and Work WHAT IS YOUR STARTUP LIFE HACK? Don’t think about what you might miss out on if you fail. Think about what you gain when you succeed.   ADVICE TO HACKER NATION Depending on what business you want to start, just do one little thing because that’s what gets it going. FOLLOW mike@goandgrowpodcast.com Twitter @mikewchan http://www.mikewchan.com/ Linkedin

Ken Arnold is a consultant, author, engineer, and professor at San Diego State University, where he teaches a wide variety of courses such as programming and embedded systems. Aside from starting multiple companies in the past, he founded HiTechEdventures.org, whose purpose is to connect motivated students and potential employers, by providing work-for-hire consulting services. Students have the opportunity to work on client’s projects while they’re enrolled and working toward their degree.   STRATEGIES USED TO FUND BUSINESS When I first started as an entrepreneur, I hired my friends to do consulting work for companies and bootstrapped the entire thing. I paid them depending on the money I was getting from the companies. At the time, the best jobs were going for $1-2 an hour and they were getting $4 an hour. It was a win-win-win situation. DESCRIBE A MOMENT WHEN YOU FELT LIKE GIVING UP One of the biggest ones was when I had just jumped off and started the business. The large company I had worked for had a health plan. My son had become ill when he was born and had substantial hospital bills. It turns out there was a limit on how much the hospital paid out. All of the sudden the hospital gave all the money back to the insurance company. The company said they weren’t going to pay money that was over the limit, and I was forced to spend tens of thousands of money to cover the cost. That was all the money that I was going to spend on advertising and all sorts of business stuff. Family first. HUGE SUCCESS My favorite success is the HiTechEdVentures program because it’s something that I feel addresses a direct need and it solves a problem so many of my students had. Good students are not able to get jobs because they couldn’t even get an interview because they didn’t have any paid experience to put on their resume. I feel proud to start that because none of the people that have called me back have said, “Ken, I couldn’t find a job or get an interview.” SUPERPOWER I’d say my primary strength is simply that I try to be creative in finding different solutions to problems that people have used the standard solutions for. KRYPTONITE Bureaucracy, definitely. I’ve always had trouble with big companies and big organizations. What really grinds my gears is the bureaucreatic BS that prevents people from doing what needs to be done. IF YOU CAN HAVE ANY SUPERPOWER If I had any superpower it would be to inform people widely of really important things that they’re not aware of. RECOMMENDED RESOURCE OR APP Doodle: The scheduling tool you’ll actually use Google Hangouts Skype youcanbook.me   RECOMMENDED BOOKS A Whack on the Side of the Head: How You Can Be More Creative   WHAT IS YOUR STARTUP LIFE HACK? If you’re in an environment where you get interrupted a lot, you spend a lot of that time trying to get back to what you were doing. One of the recommendations is to find a place where you can work uninterrupted and focus on the task at hand. You will accomplish more if you implement this simple hack. FOLLOW Linkedin Twitter @technoken email: Ken15@hte.com http://hitechedventures.org/

Robin is an author, educator, and strategist, with a background ranging from management consulting to circus performance. He has a desire to help people and companies keep pace with rapid change. If you can’t find him in a dance studio, he is directing the Stanford-founded Design for Dance Conference, and also runs his own podcast, The Robin Zander Show. STRATEGIES USED TO FUND BUSINESS My main gig right now is the educational startup called SOCOS. SOCOS is 3 years old right now; I joined a year and a half ago. But we’re bootstrapped. SOCOS had started with a small scale consultancy for online universities. Only in the last 6 months was where we’ve taken decades of research into learning and turning it into a product that people can use. The product is called MUSE. It’s for parents of kids 0-12 years old, where it’s that one thing that parents can do every single day to maximize the life of their child.   WHEN DID YOU FEEL YOU’VE GAINED ENOUGH KNOWLEDGE FOR CONSULTING? Every consulting opportunity is different from the one before. When I started consulting as a special needs consultant to families, I didn’t evolve yet like I was the expert. But I realized that by having that outside perspective, and having the story of one other family of whom I can share with the person in front of me right now, was incredibly useful. We often overlook our strengths because we assume that other people have them too. DESCRIBE A MOMENT WHEN YOU FELT LIKE GIVING UP One moment was with my old consulting business, Move Autism. I had a couple clients and decided to give it my all. I was getting great feedback from my initial clients, but when I decided to expand my business, it was very difficult since I was relatively new to social media marketing. There was a point when I questioned if I should join my friends and enter into the tech industry or get my Ph D. The thing that saw me through was that desire to be of service. HUGE SUCCESS From consulting, success at that time was seeing the changes in the little girl and her family. I asked myself, have I to the best of my ability in this setting been of service to that person. If the answer is yes, then that’s success. SUPERPOWER One is the ability to ask questions and helping people reach their conclusions. KRYPTONITE It’s setting a high expectation for someone else and not having those expectations delivered and getting upset about that is my kryptonite. IF YOU CAN HAVE ANY SUPERPOWER I would love to have a “Narnia” closet where time is paused and you can do whatever you want to feel refreshed. RECOMMENDED RESOURCE OR APP Evernote: The workspace for you life’s work Slack: Be less busy   RECOMMENDED BOOKS The Art of Learning: An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance   WHAT IS YOUR STARTUP LIFE HACK? Be more appreciative. I found that most of my successes come from being appreciative towards every situation. FOLLOW The Robin Zander Show Robinpzander.com Twitter @robinpzander Linkedin            

Laura Roeder is a social media marketing expert who gives businesses of all sizes the tools they need to make their mark on the web. With all of the clutter on the web, it’s hard to get recognized and your thoughtful post may never get the exposure it deserves. Laura is the Founder and CEO of Edgar, a social media marketing tool, that tackles the problem social media is having today, finding and connecting with your audience. STRATEGIES USED TO FUND BUSINESS Edgar was self-funded. I had another business, LKR Social Media, and also another training business called B-school that I started with a partner. Both of those businesses had done really well, so I used some of the profits to launch Edgar. It was basically a bootstrap model where we didn’t take on any investors or outside funding. FOUNDERS I am a solo founder. My husband is the CTO of Edgar, he built the product. He is like a founder in a lot of ways, but since this product was stemmed from an existing business, we didn’t make him a founder. DESCRIBE A MOMENT WHEN YOU FELT LIKE GIVING UP Once you grow your business larger, managing people is really what you spend your time on. If you have someone on your team who isn’t performing or isn’t a cultural fit, those can be the hardest days. In particular, when I have to let someone go, that’s definitely the most emotionally exhausting and the most difficult thing I have to do as a founder. HUGE SUCCESS Something really fun with Edgar was how quickly it’s grown and how much our customers have resonated with it. When we launched Edgar it was really an experiment. We just knew that we wanted it; we thought that other people wanted it, but we didn’t know if people would buy it. As soon as Edgar got out, we got to our first million in annual recurring revenue in about 11 months after launch. SUPERPOWER I find that the problem is never the lack of ideas; it’s the action of implementing it. Being decisive and putting some version of it out there so that we may continue to improve it would be my strength. KRYPTONITE One of the flipsides of the decisiveness is the impatience, which is definitely a problem of mine. IF YOU CAN HAVE ANY SUPERPOWER I would love to be able to read people’s minds, but I know it would be one of those that I would immediately regret as soon as it happens. RECOMMENDED RESOURCE OR APP Edgar: The Social Media Queque That Never Runs Out Slack: A Messaging App For Teams   RECOMMENDED BOOKS Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It…and Why the Rest Don’t (Rockefeller Habits 2.0)   ADVICE TO HACKER NATION Get something live today. Most people spend so much time planning and messing around with things that are wasting a bunch of time. What really matters is, will anyone pay for this, and you can find this out by selling one little piece to someone FOLLOW Twitter @lkr @meetedgar Meetedgar.com lkrsocialmedia.com Facebook Linkedin

Mornee Sherry is a former United States Marine and Google employee. He is a self-starter with a passion for changing things and the way we approach life. His latest venture, Lume Cube, offers the world’s first off-camera flash and video light for iPhone, Android, GoPro, and other casual capture devices. STRATEGIES USED TO FUND BUSINESS To fund it, we went through Kickstarter, but to fund the Kickstarter, we had started a few businesses beforehand that were mildly successful bringing in a few hundred dollars a week. We also utilized a great idea and the future of that through equity. We enticed a branding firm to give us their services in exchange for equity. That resulted in a great engaging video and raised $229,000 in 30 days. FOUNDERS “No man is an island,” is a very good saying. Every great CEO should recognize their strengths, not lie to themselves, and realize their weaknesses. And they should surround themselves with people who are strong in their weaknesses. DESCRIBE A MOMENT WHEN YOU FELT LIKE GIVING UP We developed a product through Kickstarter and very close to our initial launch of the product; the product we were getting from the manufacturer at that time was not meeting our standards, but requesting the order and the money. I had this gut feeling and I knew it was going to upset a lot of Kickstarters, a lot of my coworkers, and this manufacturer.  Nothing wrong with the manufacturer, but my gut feeling was that you don’t release a product you don’t want to put your name on. HUGE SUCCESS Lume Cube is a great level of success. I’ve started five of my own companies from scratch and they’ve all been successful within 18 months. I look at those as battles won, but I haven’t won a war yet. SUPERPOWER I believe I read people incredibly well through people’s body language, through people’s language and eye movement. I feel like I am good at reading and adjusting who I need to be to succeed in that room. KRYPTONITE Sometimes you can take on too much, and I’ll say for me, my kryptonite is initiative. I come up with new ideas to change this world every day. I definitely have focus, but you have to make sure that other ideas don’t become a distraction. RECOMMENDED RESOURCE OR APP Cision: Stream your process and Power your story RECOMMENDED BOOKS Anthem The Catcher in the Rye To Kill a Mockingbird   ADVICE TO HACKER NATION For any people out there crowd-funding, start your outreach at least 60 days prior to launching your campaign. Do you. People who encourage you are good. But don’t believe them. People that discourage you are bad. But don’t believe them. If you are an entrepreneur, you are a stubborn, intelligent, self-motivating, self-starter, and arrogant individual. It’s all about being on time. FOLLOW Facebook Mornee Sherry Instagram @lumecube Twitter @LumeCube Lume Cube Bongo Buggies Foto Promos Think Eleven

Karim Roushdy enjoys founding and being part of startups. He is analytical, yet creative. Loves the calmness but enjoys having an adrenaline rush! Karim came from Egypt and is currently residing in the Finest City in America, San Diego. He started a new program, called Project26, which aims to help connect the startup tech community in San Diego. FOUNDERS People would go directly towards their friends, but I wouldn’t always recommend that. Choose your founders based on the passion you see in their eyes. Ensure that your partner is really passionate the same way you are about it. A partner means that they have to be a part in the business decisions, give them equity, trust, and leadership. DESCRIBE A MOMENT WHEN YOU FELT LIKE GIVING UP Starting a social startup in Egypt was definitely not easy. Despite the huge market now for entrepreneurs in Egypt, it’s not as big as it is in Europe or here in the United States, but it is getting there. There are a lot of times over there when I wanted to give up, but I decided that there are no limits, and there were no boundaries. And that’s why achieving that dream, whether it may be in Europe, in the US, wherever it is, I would do that. SUPERPOWER My greatest strength is that I am very consistent and that I am very social as well. I believe these are two very important traits that an entrepreneur should have. They have to be easy with people to pass on their vision to others. KRYPTONITE My kryptonite is SLEEP! IF YOU CAN HAVE ANY SUPERPOWER… I’d like to have either of these two powers; speed or high focus. RECOMMENDED RESOURCE OR APP Slack: We’re on a mission to make your working life simpler, more pleasant, and more productive.   RECOMMENDED BOOKS Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future The Art of Innovation: Lessons in Creativity from IDEO, America’s Leading Design Firm The Secret   WHAT IS YOUR STARTUP LIFE HACK? You don’t need some time to start. People always wait for this perfect time, when in actuality there is no perfect time, so start now.   FOLLOW Project26.co Twitter @k_roushdy Email: kroushdy89@gmail.com

Derek is one crazy dude. After graduating from Montana State in 2014, he went on a little adventure to explore the world. And by little, I mean travelling to 27 different countries and visiting all 50 states. He is also the host of his own show, The Art of Adventure Podcast, who’s main goal is to teach others how to learn what they need to know to navigate each new ecosystem of life. STRATEGIES USED TO FUND BUSINESS When I was in grad school for microbiology, I was experimenting with a lot of businesses. I had experience as a cyclist so I started coaching athletes, selling other people’s sporting equipment on eBay, and teaching artists how to build an online presence so that they can sell their art online. I decided that cycling coaching was the first business that I would bring with me as I traveled abroad in 2014. FOUNDERS I did this all on my own. I heard about the rock star business model where you use your personality and your personal brand as the business. As the rock star, no one can really copy them and so they always have a unique value proposition. DESCRIBE A MOMENT WHEN YOU FELT LIKE GIVING UP The first time I tried recording a podcast I was in a crappy hotel room in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, and I had a famous pro athlete on the phone. The interview went great, but I had realized that I had not recorded his half of the audio. As I played it back, it was just me talking to nobody. I was so embarrassed I thought I would just scrap the whole project and never talk to anyone again because I didn’t want to make the same mistake again. It took me 2 months to get over that and try again. HUGE SUCCESS As a podcaster, a great success was the first time someone comes up to you and they say, “Hey, I recognize your voice. Are you the host of Art of Adventure?” To be recognized by your voice, and to hear that I am helping this woman in her career, it makes it all worth it. SUPERPOWER I would say that skill acquisition is my greatest strength because I’ve worked in many different fields and I’ve studied so many different things. I’m able to take in new knowledge and assimilate it into my existing knowledge. KRYPTONITE There are so many good ideas out there, and they all seem so tempting and perfect when you hear about them. The problem is that there are too many to do in a lifetime. I have a lot of unfinished projects, and so good ideas are my kryptonite because I get so enticed by them. IF YOU CAN HAVE ANY SUPERPOWER… I’d say the ability to heal myself and other people because that basically eliminates any excuses and barriers that prevents you from doing your best work. RECOMMENDED RESOURCE OR APP Schedule Once: ScheduleOnce is a field-proven solution for powering online scheduling with your customers and prospects. Meet Edgar: The social media queue that never runs out.   RECOMMENDED BOOKS Mindset: The New Psychology of Success   WHAT IS YOUR STARTUP LIFE HACK? I do an annual review each year where I look at what worked and what didn’t work, and I set goals for the next year.   FOLLOW Twitter @DerekLoudermilk Instagram Art of Adventure Podcast Derek@derekloudermilk.com

Derric Haynie is a serial entrepreneur working his way up to a Keynote Speaker. He is dedicated to helping entrepreneurs and startup founders “growth hack” their way to success. he started the company Splash – Online Presence Management, with a goal of helping 10,000 entrepreneurs successfully set up profitable inbound marketing funnels, and get their first 10,000 subscribers. STRATEGIES USED TO FUND BUSINESS In the beginning I focused completely on education. I needed to stop playing poker in order to make this passion of mine a success. When I knew I needed to jump ship, it was in the back of my mind that I needed an investment to help skyrocket the business. I had a few friends who were angel investors, including one who was in the email marketing space. He saw a lot of passion in me and really believed in me; therefore he made an investment of $50,000 into our company for 15%. FOUNDERS I picked my wife, Shana Haynie, as the Creative Director, she is an amazing artist and graphic designer. DESCRIBE A MOMENT WHEN YOU FELT LIKE GIVING UP There are definitely a lot of times when you feel like this isn’t working and it’s worthless. We have a small child in our home and moved from a 4-bedroom home to a 2-bedroom home, sold a car and went into debt for our business. I remember one night in particular when the baby was crying, we were still figuring out our business in the early stages, and it was just a murderous feeling that I should just give up now. The thing that kept me going was acknowledging that business and life struggles may come at you at full swing, but you have to know that there will be another moment when you have huge success as well. HUGE SUCCESS I’ve had three 6-figure days as a professional poker player. One of them was at the final table at a World Series of Poker event. Those moments of success I felt were deserved because of all the years of hard work I had put in to get lucky enough to be at the final table of a tournament. SUPERPOWER My greatest strength without a doubt is that I am an expert decision maker. I can ascertain what criteria I need to know and then make the best informed decision and execute on it. KRYPTONITE I don’t have experience managing other people and sometimes I set ridiculously high expectations for others that I couldn’t even expect myself to perform at. IF YOU CAN HAVE ANY SUPERPOWER… The one that is most attainable is the ability to stop aging. RECOMMENDED RESOURCE OR APP Asana: The easiest way for teams to track their work—and get results. Timedoctor: Accurate time tracking software. Grammarly: Grammarly makes you a better writer by finding and correcting up to 10 times more mistakes than your word processor. Sumome: Tools to grow your website’s traffic.   RECOMMENDED BOOKS Quantum Poker: Summing Up Everything You will Ever Need to Know About Poker The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses   ADVICE TO HACKER NATION You need to learn every single day, and you need to be able to handle the highs and lows of your business.   FOLLOW Splashopm.com/blog Twitter @splashopm Twitter @sixpeppers Facebook Instagram LinkedIn

Jenny Amaraneni is an MBA graduate from San Diego State University, who is on a mission to restore vision around the globe. She is doing this through a company she had co-founded, SOLO Eyewear. With each SOLO sunglasses purchased, the team funds eye care for people in need.   STRATEGIES USED TO FUND BUSINESS I initially started with a family loan, and then we turned to crowd funding and launched a Kickstarter campaign to really get the company going. Right now we are looking at taking on investment. FOUNDERS Dana Holiday is my co-founder. She has a background in graphic design and is also our Creative Director. She and I met on SDSU while working on campus in the entrepreneurship center. My advice for people who are seeking cofounders is making sure you find someone who has a specific skillset who delivers a different value than yourself to the company. And someone who has a strong work ethic that is equal or greater to yours. DESCRIBE A MOMENT WHEN YOU FELT LIKE GIVING UP We have had those times when the thought has crossed my mind and I’ve reflected on it greatly. The conclusion that I’ve come to is, NO, now is not the time, I am not giving up this easily. I typically find my stamina to persevere by listening to inspirational talks, reading books about companies who’ve had experienced failures and gotten past them, and also turning to mentors. HUGE SUCCESS We were hurting for money in the beginning of the year. I was wondering how we were going to get through this time. I had started a spring board program that would prepare us to raise money for the company. We had been approached for offers in investment, but Dana and I didn’t feel quite right about entertaining these offers. It was just that gut feeling that prevented us from taking on investors at that time. After foregoing those opportunities, a crazy opportunity came about, and we were featured in Good Morning America. In 24 hours we had made enough sales to relieve all of our headaches. SUPERPOWER My entrepreneurial superpower would be the ability to keep multiple projects going at the same time and maintain that calmness. KRYPTONITE My personal kryptonite is mail. Mail is just something I can’t stand. IF YOU CAN HAVE ANY SUPERPOWER… I would have to say, flying. I have a pretty healthy fear of heights, but I am fascinated by climbers and rock climbing. I am just amazed by the limits people can push. RECOMMENDED RESOURCE OR APP Trello: Trello is the free, flexible, and visual way to organize anything with anyone. Turboscan   RECOMMENDED BOOKS I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban   ADVICE TO HACKER NATION There’s no such thing as the wrong first step when starting a business, so just go for it. You have nothing to lose.   FOLLOW Facebook/SoloEyewear Instagram/soloeyewear/ Twitter/soloeyewear Linkedin http://www.soloeyewear.com/

Luke is a student entrepreneur from San Diego State University. He has won numerous awards such as winning 1st place in SDSU’s Lean Model Competition and awarded the top student entrepreneur at San Diego State University during the Spring of 2015. His software company, Coursekey, aims to improve the lack of interaction in classes and is currently being used by more than 5000 students in Southern California.   STRATEGIES USED TO FUND BUSINESS We went out and recruited top tier engineering talent at San Diego State. I was able to lock in a couple engineers and bought into the vision and have been with us since. That allowed us to put out software at a very low cost. We got to our alpha version last Spring for around $1200. From that, after proving what we had, we funded ourselves completely off business plan competitions. FOUNDERS I started a totally different concept with another individual, and that ended up not working out. While that process was taking place, we were in recruiting mode and we brought on some really talented kids that I would consider to be co-founders today because we wouldn’t be where we are without them. DESCRIBE A MOMENT WHEN YOU FELT LIKE GIVING UP Early on was the most challenging. We had a totally different concept and we stumbled upon someone who was doing the exact same thing. We almost threw in the towel, but fortunately we ended up recruiting and pivoting and recruited a straight hustler, Ryan Vanshur. He really propelled us and helped us all see the value in the idea and got us out there grinding and putting in the work that was required. HUGE SUCCESS Being able to recruit the team that we had was a huge success. On top of that, one of our favorite memories was when we went down to Brigham Young University for the International Business Plan Competition. There were over 3800 student teams there and we finished in the top 11. SUPERPOWER My entrepreneurial superpower is being a generalist. I think a lot of entrepreneurs really try and focus in on one talent, which is very valuable, but being able to dive into every aspect of the business (finance, accounting, etc.) is extremely important for a founder. KRYPTONITE I’m a little bit of a pleaser. I try and make everyone happy and sometimes that’s not how it should be. IF YOU CAN HAVE ANY SUPERPOWER… I think being able to tell when people aren’t being honest with you would be my superpower. RECOMMENDED RESOURCE OR APP Sunrise Calendars   RECOMMENDED BOOKS How to Win Friends & Influence People   ADVICE TO HACKER NATION The idea is less than 1% of the journey and the evolution of the company. Don’t hang so much on the idea. If you can create something that is valuable and you work hard towards it, and you build people that are better than you around you, you’re going to be successful.   FOLLOW thecoursekey.com Thoughts of a 21-year old tech founder Twitter

Cody Cross is the Co-founder and CEO at GreekRush. GreekRush helps fraternities & sororities manage themselves more effectively, interact more socially, and become part of a closer community. Cody has been through all the standard ups-and-downs as a young entrepreneur, and has gained some serious traction with GreekRush.   STRATEGIES USED TO FUND BUSINESS We did end up raising $20,000 from friends and family, but that was only after we were able to launch a full prototype at a university. I think that it is more important to get a prototype and get something working, at least to get some sort of concept, before you get to that phase. FOUNDERS I was in between studying business or engineering early in my college career, and that’s when I met Carson. It was really just one of those things where we hit it off in the sense that we both had ambitions to start something new, and we thought in similar ways about some of the problems we were seeing. DESCRIBE A MOMENT WHEN YOU FELT LIKE GIVING UP There are always tough times when you’re starting a business. There are always ups and downs. But what’s really important is having a cofounder that can pick you up on times like that, or creating a network of fellow entrepreneurs or mentors that you can call on to help you during those tough times. HUGE SUCCESS I believe I have supersonic hearing. I think that it is very important that you are able to listen to others, but also listen to the information presented to you. SUPERPOWER It’s good vibes. If you can harness good vibes and stay present and keep a positive thought when things get tough, I think that’s a big superpower anyone can have. KRYPTONITE Sometimes I have a tendency to say yes to our users because I put them first, but at the same time I am learning that it is more important to be able to say no IF YOU CAN HAVE ANY SUPERPOWER… I believe seeing into the future would be the ultimate superpower. RECOMMENDED RESOURCE OR APP Instagress: Accelerate your life on Instagram for more targeted likes, comments and follows   ADVICE TO HACKER NATION Do what you can with what you have available to you.   FOLLOW Twitter

Tyler Norris is a student entrepreneur from the University of San Diego. He is the Founder and CEO at SoulrCarts, an awesome solar powered food cart franchise with a big vision. His company recently made it through the final round of Oxygen Network’s startup program, “Quit Your Day Job”, and will be broadcasted on national TV sometime early 2016.   STRATEGIES USED TO FUND BUSINESS Right when I had quite Apple, I have dabbled in flipping vintage trailers. What I would do is buy them and putting them in a storage facility, renovating them, and flipping them on Craig’s list. A few trailers later, I was making food carts. FOUNDERS The food cart business was my own thing. I was doing it on the side. When I started the company, I knew that I wanted to do my own thing, but I didn’t know what it was going to transpire into. I wanted to do something in the weekends where I can do self-operations and make a living. DESCRIBE A MOMENT WHEN YOU FELT LIKE GIVING UP When I quit Apple, I contemplated if I had made the right decision. Leaving a work with benefits, stock options, and a decent wage was a big hurdle to jump over, but I knew a big net would catch me once I made the leap. HUGE SUCCESS A great success would have to be landing on a TV show. We also locked down a pretty cool spot over the summer at Belmont Park in Mission Beach. SUPERPOWER It’s good vibes. If you can harness good vibes and stay present and keep a positive thought when things get tough, I think that’s a big superpower anyone can have. KRYPTONITE I’m terrible at multitasking for the most part. IF YOU CAN HAVE ANY SUPERPOWER… I would want the power to stop time. If I can stop time and clean the house, clean the garage, and my car, then that would be huge. RECOMMENDED RESOURCE OR APP Daily Quote   RECOMMENDED BOOKS How to Win Friends & Influence People   ADVICE TO HACKER NATION Have a vision, be persistent, prior-plan, stay positive, and surround yourself with good people.   FOLLOW Instagram Twitter

Jay Magpantay is a classic case of a serial entrepreneur. The man is extremely busy, always juggling several projects at a time. He’s the founder of EZDSIT, a clothing company that became well known and respected in the Paradise Hills community. He teaches individuals and businesses how to take their businesses online as an online business trainer. And he is Co-Founder of Live Young & Retire, a collective of individuals dedicated to living a life of freedom. STRATEGIES USED TO FUND BUSINESS I was very fortunate to be able to self-fund my own project and my passions. When I was in the Navy as a kid without a family, without a wife and kids, without a home to pay for, you get to save a lot of money, especially when you are out overseas not spending it. FOUNDERS I was a bit of an artist, and my very first business was putting my designs on clothing. I was out at sea and doodling on my black book, and thought why I should just put this on t-shirts and sell it. So I kind of just did this on my own. WORST ENTREPRENEURIAL MOMENT I did a lot of the work myself. Once the business took off, it took me away from what I was best at, which was building customer relationships and making sales. Because of that, the steady flow of incoming customer and sales declined and I eventually had to close up shop. It was a scary thing to hire someone full-time, especially when starting out. So the lesson I learned from that is to not do everything on your own. A good entrepreneur leverages other people. HUGE SUCCESS I’ve built my business from my backyard to this big industrial workspace in Santee, CA. Looking back, I still look at the previous clients I’ve worked with and the relationships I’ve built with them over the past two years. SUPERPOWER It would have to be crazy determination. I’ve had my fair share of failures. I take the hits and I keep coming. If I’m not the best at one particular thing, then I’ll find a way to make it work or find the person that does know, and I’ll hire them. KRYPTONITE When it comes to business, my weakness is accounting. I took a couple of courses in accounting and it required a high level of concentration just to understand the material. Your financial statements will give you a report on how you’re doing, and the only way to do that is if you know your numbers. IF YOU CAN HAVE ANY SUPERPOWER… If I can fly, I’d be happy. RECOMMENDED RESOURCE OR APP Winstreak: Take charge. Start a new habit.   RECOMMENDED BOOKS The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich (Expanded and Updated)   ADVICE TO HACKER NATION Write down all of the things that you want in your life. Be specific. When you write them down, it changes from dreams into actual goals. Put these goals into somewhere where you can see them. When you see your goals, your mind sees it and obsesses over it to get it done.   FOLLOW Jaymagpantay.com Facebook Twitter

Between class, work, sports, and a social life, most college student don’t have time for anything else. This isn’t the case for John Mikaelian. John is a graduate at San Diego State University and majored in Business Administration. Somehow, John found the time to write, self-publish, and sell a book through Amazon called, Reality Check: A College Student’s Survival Guide, which outlines the positive and negative aspects of the real world.       Strategies used to fund business Self publishing has becoming really popular so my business I could say is my book. There are a lot of platforms where you can send in your book from the cover, to the text inside the book, so there really wasn’t that big of a startup cost. I was able to fund the book myself and it cost me a couple hundred dollars. Describe a moment when you felt like giving up Amazon doesn’t really do any marketing for you, so you kind of had to push your own traffic to the website, and I wasn’t really familiar on how to do that. So I decided to zero in on my target and started selling the book on college bookstores, and since then, the book has been doing well. HUGE SUCCESS One of the recent things I am proud of was that I became the president of the entrepreneurship club at Cal State Los Angeles Kryptonite I’m not a very patient person. If you can have any superpower… My superpower would be invisibility. That way I can see what students are doing when I’m not around when it comes to their startups because sometimes they might be doing shortcuts whenever I do workshops. So when I’m invisible I can sit down and find ot what they’re thinking and how they are collaborating.   RECOMMENDED RESOURCE OR APP Evernote: For everything you’ll do, Evernote is the workspace to get it done.   RECOMMENDED BOOKS Rich Dad Poor Dad: What The Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not! Reality Check: A College Student’s Survival Guide The Entrepreneur Cheat Sheet: A Straightforward Guide to Starting and Growing Your Business   ADVICE TO HACKER NATION Just get started. A lot of the entrepreneurs think that they have to wait for the so called “perfect moment.” So just get started and you’ll figure out the answers as you go along. FOLLOW Twitter http://johnmikaelian.com/

Nathan Resnick is a student at the University of San Diego and the founder of Yes Man Watches. Having launched and advised several successful Kickstarter campaigns, he knows the ins and outs of how to turn ideas into realities. Named #28 on the Fall 2014 Top 50 College Startups List, Nathan plans to empower people to consider the use of time. How do you spend your day?       Strategies used to fund business We had this idea of a brand, this empowering brand, and get people to there “YES.” We saw this concept being applied to a belt buckle and wanted to use the same technology for a watch to create a perfect fit for your wrist. The hardest part was figuring out how we were going to produce and manufacture these watches. We ultimately ended up going with Kickstarter, a crowd funding platform. Founders I am actually the sole founder of Yes Man. That was one of the hardest parts of starting. I originally had the concept with a friend, and when it came time for those late nights and early mornings and really start hustling, he and I both knew that he wasn’t there. For me, I didn’t find someone that I thought was going to be really beneficial to me when I first started Yes Man, so I kind of just dove right into it myself Top 3 Things When Launching on Kickstarter Pre-launch: Create a community of excited people that are really into what you’re doing. Don’t launch your product on Kickstarter, until you actually know how to produce your product. You want to have that streamline, you want to have that cost of goods and have your manufacturing set before you launch. Have the money to meet your minimum order for your manufacturers. How do you find your manufacturers? Fortunately for me I used to live in China during my junior year in high school as a foreign exchange student, so I speak mandarin fluently. It was great to actually use my mandarin to speak with some of the manufacturers in China. A great starting point, if you have an idea for a product, is to go to Alibaba. But the problem about that is finding out who is reputable and who is actually trustworthy enough to manufacture your products.   Describe a moment when you felt like giving up When we first launched Yes Man, we had some trouble with our patent pending buckle. Basically the buckle was bulky and it didn’t work that well. The strap wouldn’t always stay in, so I didn’t want to put a bad product in the market. What we ended up doing was insert a spring mechanism into our actual buckle so the release of the strap was automatic. HUGE SUCCESS One of the more exciting moments was when we were published in the New York Times. I’d say one of the more fulfilling moments as an entrepreneur comes from when you physically hold the product that you’ve been creating for the past 4-5 months, and getting that first prototype in the mail. Superpower My superpower is my ability to turn these ideas into reality. I’m very goal driven, so if I tell myself I’m going to launch this company by the end of this month, then I’m going to do everything and anything to make that happen. This past summer I launched 3 kickstarter campaigns, one a month. Kryptonite I’d say my kryptonite is delegation. Sometimes it’s hard to manage and trust other people, especially when we work with people around the world. IF YOU CAN HAVE ANY SUPERPOWER… It would have to be invisibility because I feel like you can do whatever you want, whenever you want. RECOMMENDED RESOURCE OR APP Side-Kick for Gmail: Track email opens and clicks in your Gmail. Use Sidekick with Gmail to get real-time notifications in just a couple clicks. Boomerang for Gmail: Schedule an email to be sent later. Easy email reminders.   RECOMMENDED BOOKS The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich (Expanded and Updated)   ADVICE TO HACKER NATION Have a plan, have a strategy, write the steps needed to turn your idea into reality. Let’s say you want to launch a kickstarter campaign in October. Figure out what you want to bring to life Figure out how you’re going to make that product Put together your marketing assets, which includes your video and photography Set up your company and incorporate Roll with it   FOLLOW Twitter @naterez94 Linkedin Nathanresnick.com